Politics

DC votes to allow gay marriage, but issue not settled

The District of Columbia is poised to join five states that have legalized same-sex marriage. Washington city councilors voted Tuesday to allow gay marriage, but a second vote is scheduled in the coming weeks and Congress could intervene. If a coalition of gay-marriage opponents have their say, the issue will eventually be ...

Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon convicted of embezzling gift cards

After more than six days of deliberation, a jury convicted Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon of embezzlement Tuesday, sending City Hall into confusion and putting the once-bright political future of the city’s first female mayor into jeopardy. The conviction was on a misdemeanor charge of "fraudulent misappropriation of a fiduciary." It alleged ...

Atlanta’s mayoral runoff may hinge on city’s gay voters

Without a runoff election, Atlanta would already have its first white mayor in a generation. Instead, a black candidate who once polled at 8 percent has drawn even in Tuesday’s runoff race. Even more surprising: The outcome may well be determined by an emerging and gung-ho minority – gays and lesbians. The ...

Senate healthcare debate Day 2: partisan warfare by amendment

Tuesday was a big day on Capitol Hill, with the full US Senate set to start voting on historic healthcare reform legislation. At this early stage, the votes are to approve or strike down proposed legislative amendments. In coming days senators will have to grind through lots of these, as members ...

Report: Obama’s stimulus plan is creating new jobs

Federal stimulus programs are sustaining as many as 1.6 million jobs this year, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says in a new report. The assessment comes after weeks during which the White House has faced skepticism about its claims that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) has created or saved ...

Tareq and Michaele Salahi, White House partiers, not going away

Tareq and Michaele Salahi are way into overtime on their 15 minutes of fame. The Virginia couple who allegedly crashed the White House state dinner last week appeared on NBC’s “Today” show Tuesday. They maintained that they were invited, not wannabes. “The truth will soon come out,” Mr. Salahi said, adding that ...

Will healthcare reform drive costs down? A little, report says.

A report released today by the Congressional Budget Office has set out what could be a decisive fault line in the Senate debate over healthcare reform. Proponents say the report shows healthcare reform will do no harm to Americans' pocketbooks. Critics say that report shows the US is about to undertake ...

The political stakes of Obama’s Afghanistan war speech

President Obama has his work cut out for him Tuesday evening when he addresses the nation on the Afghanistan war. The president is expected to announce an escalation of the US presence there by some 30,000 troops. But he will emphasize that the goal is to stabilize the country and build ...

Senate healthcare reform debate begins: public option topic No. 1

Is the public option dead again – this time for good? As the Senate opens debate Monday on its version of healthcare reform, the public option – a government-run health plan intended to compete with private insurers – remains one of the bill’s most controversial issues. Liberals say the public option is ...

Mike Huckabee granted clemency to suspect in cop-killing ambush

If Republican Mike Huckabee makes a run for the presidency again in 2012, this week will have made his potential road to the White House a bit rockier. During his time as governor of Arkansas, Mr. Huckabee granted clemency to Maurice Clemmons. Police are now seeking Mr. Clemmons for questioning in ...